COUDERSPORT — Ness Fest will not take place this July, but organizers are hoping to relaunch the annual event in 2025 with new sponsorship and more volunteers.

Ness Fest celebrates famed lawman Eliot Ness, his crimefighting eras of the 1920s and 1930s and his connection to Coudersport. The Fest began in 2018 and has drawn thousands of visitors each year.

An afternoon of music, refreshments and Roaring ’20s fun is still planned for Saturday at the Eliot Ness Museum’s St. Valentine’s Day Soiree.

The event is a fundraiser for a museum, which officials said is an attraction in the Potter County seat.

Ness Fest committee member Kelsey Miller said the reason for the pause is twofold: sponsorship and volunteers.

The Potter County Historical Society is stepping down from its role as the Ness Fest’s parent organization.

“We can’t move any of our funds without a new parent organization; we got a lump sum of what’s ours, but we can’t make any reservations or down payments,” she said.

Miller noted that corporate entities such as Zito Media, UPMC Cole and Truck Lite are “there for the community if we need them” but the Fest needs a sole umbrella organization for tax and financial purposes.

The Potter County Education Council has expressed a desire to help, Miller said, but “they are state-sponsored, so there’s lots of hoops to jump through.”

The Coudersport Chamber of Commerce is not in a position to assist the fest, and the closure of the Hotel Crittenden and other local businesses has affected the Fest’s viability as well.

The very active community group Coudersport Main Street, which coordinates the Falling Leaves Festival and other events, is a friend to the Ness Fest but is not an official nonprofit entity, Miller said.

“We are always profitable,” Miller noted. “The problem is we need a lot of give upfront.”

The baseline amount needed to stage Ness Fest is $20,000; Miller said that an additional $10,000 could greatly improve the event.

“Having an extra year will be helpful,” she said.

Nest Fest organizers are also seeking community members to pitch in on everything from coordinating the classic car show, live music and street theater to behind-the-scenes tasks.

“We lost some key members this year,” said Miller. “We’re down to five or six volunteers and we could use about 25.”

The Potter County Players is a community theater group that writes the scripts for Ness Fest and also provides the actors for the various skits that occur throughout the weekend of the Fest. They will remain in this roleas the event evolves in 2025.

Other popular features of the Fest will remain intact, Miller said: the beer garden and live music have proven successful.

“We want to both simplify and expand things,” Miller said. “The car show, for example — in the beginning there were very strict guidelines on what car could show; it had to be from a specific era. We’re less stringent in the rules now, but the car owners didn’t realize that. We really just want your cool old cars.”

“We also want to bring the movie theater back into things.”

Miller is a Coudersport native who returned to the area after college. The Fest’s goal, she said, is to draw visitors to the area and show off what makes Potter County special.

“This is special to the area,” she said. “It’s historical and fun, a re-creation of the 1920s with the 2020s. It’s a way to connect little Coudy with the big city.

“We welcome any help, financial or otherwise. We want the town, the area and the fest to succeed, and we’re trying to get the community groups to work together.”

For more information or to volunteer, visit eliotnessfest.com.